ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday adjourned the hearing of a review petition filed in the Mukhtaran Mai case against the acquittal of 13 people accused of gang-rape.
A three-member bench led by Justice Gulzar Ahmed fixed the hearing for March 27.The decision came after the accused sought time to hire legal counsel.SC to take up Mukhtaran Mai’s review plea on 6thIn June 2002, Mai was gang-raped on orders of a ‘panchayat’ as punishment after her younger brother was accused of illicit relations with a girl from a rival tribe.
In August 2002, an anti-terrorism court awarded death penalty to six out of 14 identified by Mai – four were sentenced for rape while two were awarded capital punishment for being part of the village council. The ATC released eight others.In March 2005, five convicts were acquitted by a Lahore High Court bench while one’s sentence was converted into life imprisonment.The acquittal was challenged in the apex court.
A three-judge bench headed by Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan and comprising former CJPs Nasirul Mulk and Mian Saqib Nisar upheld LHC decision and rejected the appeal in its April 2011 verdict.Mai filed a review petition against the judgment in May 2011.
In her review petition, Mai has pleaded that the court should review and recall the judgment and grant relief as prayed in the appeal. She has also requested the court to constitute a larger bench to hear her petition, contending that she is aggrieved of and dissatisfied with the findings of the court.
13 accused in Mukhtaran Mai case set freeMai took the rare step of filing criminal charges against her attackers. Her decision to speak out earned her widespread recognition.She was named Glamour magazine’s 2005 woman of the year and her autobiography at one point was the number three bestseller in France.She started the Mukhtar Mai Women’s Welfare Organization to help support and educate Pakistani women and girls with money she received from the government and from donations.

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has noted that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has not accused Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif of embezzlement in the Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Scheme case and Issuing separate verdicts in Ashiana and Ramzan Sugar Mills cases on Friday a week after accepting Shehbaz’s bail applications in the two cases the LHC said NAB has not accused the former Punjab chief minister of any monetary corruption.
The 22-page verdict said the Ashiana Housing project was handed over to the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) after approval of the board of the Punjab Land Development Company’s (PLDC).The verdict said Shehbaz Sharif, as chief minister, had the right to transfer the project.In Ashiana case, NAB had accused Shehbaz of illegal project transfer.Govt indecisive over Nawaz Sharifs treatmentIn its 20-page verdict with regard Ramzan Sugar Mills case, the LHC said apart from the drain, which, NAB accused, was built to benefit’s Shehbaz family’s private business, many such schemes were built in the area but NAB did not object to any other scheme.
It said the drain was constructed on the request of former MPA Maulana Rehmatullah but NAB, instead of nominating Rehmatullah as an accused, made him an approver in the case.The verdict on Ashiana also discusses the case of senior bureaucrat Fawad Hassan Fawad, who was also granted bail in the Ashiana scandal.It said Fawad had no role in cancellation of contract to Abdul Latif and Sons and the contract ended after mutual consensus.Ruckus in National Assembly after ministers traitor remarkIt said Fawad Hassan Fawad was only working as the former CM Punjab’s post office.

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has directed the provincial government to ensure enforcement of the Punjab Domestic Workers Act 2019 and also suggested it that a day in the year may be notified as a “Domestic Workers Day” along with the “Labour Day” …

Lahore: The Lahore High Court has been asked to put a complete ban on trade, exhibition and selling of Indian films in Pakistan to reciprocate a ban on Pakistani artists working in Bollywood in the wake of the Pulwama attack.

The name of Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif has been placed on the Exit Control List (ECL), Express News reported.The interior ministry, according to sources, issued a circular notifying a foreign travel ban on the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) president.

The development comes a day after the federal cabinet reportedly authorised the inclusion of Shehbazs name on the ECL.The cabinet took the decision on a request by the National Accountability Bureau, from whose custody Shehbaz was released on bail last week.Shehbaz released from jailThe former Punjab chief minister was arrested by NAB in October last year for alleged misuse of authority and involvement in the Ashiana Housing Scheme case.He was granted bail by the Lahore High Court (LHC) after spending 90 days in NAB custody.However, Shehbaz spent only a few days in Kot Lakhpat Jail as the National Assembly speaker soon issued his production orders.The opposition leader was then shifted to Islamabad where his residence in the Ministers Enclave was declared a sub-jail.

LAHORE: An accountability court on Saturday approved a 16-day extension in the judicial remand of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders Khawaja Saad Rafique and Khawaja Salman Rafique.
The court ordered the authorities concerned to present the brothers for the next hearing of the Paragon Housing case on March 4.They were brought to the court amid tight security as heavy contingents of police, including the Anti-Riot Force (ARF), were deployed around the premises.To a query by the judge on progress in finalising a reference, the case investigation officer said it would be complete before the 90-day mark of the PML-N leaders incarceration.Court approves 14-day judicial remand of Rafique brothers.The judge directed the officer to speed up the pace of investigation and told him to submit a final report at the earliest.The Rafique brothers were arrested by NAB on December 11, after the Lahore High Court rejected their request for an extension in their pre-arrest bail.NAB has alleged that Saad Rafique, in connivance with his wife Ghazala Butt, brother Salman Rafique, Qaiser Amin Butt and Nadeem Zia, started a housing project named ‘Air Avenue’, which was later renamed ‘Paragon City Limited’.NAB alleges that the housing scheme was set up illegally and the Rafique brothers, in connivance with Nadeem Zia and Qaiser Amin Butt, defrauded a large number of buyers.They are also accused of embezzling the housing project’s funds for personal gains.

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Thursday granted bail to Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif in two references – Ashiyana-i-Iqbal Housing Scheme and Ramzan Sugar Mills – filed by the National Accountability Bureau …

SAHIWAL: The Punjab government has directed joint investigation team head Ijaz Hussain Shah to submit final report on the Sahiwal killings by Feb 19 whereas the JIT is likely to present report to the Lahore High Court today (Feb 14).